Emergency services were called out in the early hours after a man was taken ill on a boat.

The man, in his 70s, was taken to hospital for further treatment after he became unwell on a vessel moored at Southwold Harbour.

Rescue officers from HM Coastguard Lowestoft, the RNLI Southwold Lifeboat and the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust were called out about 2am on Wednesday, January 2 following reports of a patient who was unwell in Blackshore, Southwold.

In a post on the RNLI Southwold Lifeboat Station Facebook page, a spokesman said the lifeboat crew was called out for the first time this year by Humber Coastguard “to extricate” a casualty from a vessel moored on the river.

“We were asked to give immediate first aid due to the condition of the casualty,” the spokesman said.

The crew then assisted HM Coastguard Lowestoft in getting the man off the boat and into the ambulance. A spokesman for HM Coastguard Lowestoft said they assisted “with a casualty extraction from a vessel moored at Southwold Harbour.”

An ambulance service spokesman said: “We were called at 2.07am on January 2 with reports of a patient who was unwell in Blackshore, Southwold.

“We sent an ambulance and two rapid response vehicles.

“A man in his 70s was taken to James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston for further treatment.”